Christmas Countdown - drawstring bags

I have been in need of a good Christmas countdown for my kids for a long time! I ususally just print out a picture of Santa and they pull Hershey Kisses off his beard, or a calendar they put stickers on. So, I decided to take it a little further, and hopefully this one will last a long time. This project literally took me 2 1/2 hours to complete, and cost me nothing because I had everything in my "office" already, aside from the treats!

My side business, The Baxter Boy, has some Christmas prints left over from past years, so I used those pre-cut rectangles to make my bags. Start with a 5" x 8" piece of fabric.

Fold over the "top" along the long side of the fabric, wrong sides together, about 1/2". Sew in place.

Then fold in half, right sides together, with the 'top' at the top. Sew around the bottom and side edges, stopping at the seam you previously just sewed. When you cut off the strings, also cut the 'top' corner at an angle.

Turn inside out!

Use a ribbon, or string, rope, etc, with a safety pin on the end and slide it through the 'top'. This is your drawstring. Once it is all the way through, tie the ends together, leaving as much length as you want (I left about 2").

The final step was using my Silhouette machine to cut out some grey heat press vinyl numbers (1-24), and I used 'Mountains of Christmas' font. My numbers are about 1.5" tall.

Then fill them with treats! I also included a daily service idea for them to do (see HERE).

And hang them up with clothespins. I only had yarn, so that's what I went with to hang them on. It's up high enough that the kids can't grab them whenever they feel like a snack ;)

Merry Christmas [countdown]!!!

Chocolate Pretzel Turkey bags

This was a fun project to do with my boys. We made these pretzel turkeys for their teachers (school and church). I was inspired by THESE pretzel turkey cups that my sister made. Since were were giving these away, I thought a bag would be better than a cup!

First step, dip the pretzels in chocolate. I used the Honey Wheat Braided Twists (instead of the pretzel rods), if only because I like the taste of these pretzels better ;)

I used red, orange, and yellow Wilton chocolate melts. I gave each boy a small cup with melted chocolate and showed them how to dip them. They also had a few lectures on ‘not licking the chocolate or their fingers until they were done’ and ‘only eat the broken ones’. Man they had a hard time with those rules!!

When they were done with the pretzels, and while the chocolate was drying, we worked on the bags. I printed out a coloring picture of a turkey head on sticker paper, and cut them out with my Silhouette. I also printed out a simple “I’m thankful for you” sticker that they could write their name on. So they worked on coloring those.

     

Stick the head sticker to one side of the clear cellophane bags and the “I’m thankful for you” (or “Happy Thanksgiving”) sticker on the other side, and fill with different colored “feathers” (the chocolate dipped pretzels), and tie it up.

The best part of this project was watching the boys hand them to their teachers! So stinkin adorable!!

Halloween Bowling – pinterest success!

Tis the season for Halloween Bowling! I’m a cub master and a preschool teacher & put together these bowling sets for both groups to make this past week (at pack meeting and at a preschool Halloween party). They were a huge success, and so stinkin’ cute!!

This project was a pinterest find, and I modified it a bit since I was making so many (12 sets) and had different ages (3 –10 yrs). The original version used 4 x 9” blocks, construction paper, googly eyes, and a bouncy ball. I made 1.5 x 6” blocks with vinyl stickers, and used a golf ball!

What you need to make my modified version:

• 6 – 1.5” x 6” x 1” blocks
• spray paint - (My favorite is Rust-oleum brand, use these colors - white, key lime, seaside, black, grape, and real orange)
• vinyl [and Silhouette machine] - (in these colors - black, white, and a little bit of yellow)
• vinyl sticker template (I created, this is for a Silhouette SD, but I think it will convert to other Silhouette versions)
• a golf ball (I got mine at Wal-mart, or find them here)
• red & black sharpies

Paint each board a different color, and let them dry. While those are drying, cut the vinyl stickers. I TOTALLY recommend a Silhouette machine, it makes projects like this so SO simple. All you have to do is open the template, load the vinyl & cut!

Once the boards are dry, and the vinyl is cut, it’s just a matter of applying the stickers. I showed the 3 year olds what it was suppose to look like (on the template), then they stuck them on how they wanted it to look. For the cub scouts, I just handed it to them and said, “put them together!”  The eyeball golf balls were simple too – use the sharpies to color in a black circle, then draw red squiggly lines all over it!

Then set it up and play!!

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

‘Hello Spring’ – door decor [PEEPS® inspired]

It’s finally, officially SPRING!! After throwing a few ideas around in my head for a spring inspired front door, I finally decided to go with a fun & colorful ‘Hello Spring’ door!! [inspired by PEEPS®]

I was contacted by PEEPS® and offered a chance to try out and use their products for my crafting ventures this spring. PEEPS® has a bunch of new flavors & designs out this spring. Here are a few that I’m intrigued by, but you can find all of their new spring/Easter products HERE.

 
[*I’ve tried the mystery chicks & the party cake chicks, both of which they sent me. Party cake takes the cake ;)
But the mystery chicks were fun…we still have no idea what that flavor is!]

Like I said, PEEPS® contacted me, asked if I would put my creativity to work and come up with something “crafty” using PEEPS® this spring. They were ever so kind and sent me a huge box fun of the marshmallowy treats.

I’ll admit, we had to do some taste testing first!! My boys couldn’t decide between the Blue Raspberry and the mystery chicks, so we tried both of those first. I think the Blue Raspberry was a winner with them! (watch out…turns the whole mouth blue!!).

  

Then I got to work with my front door decor. I started with the ‘Hello Spring’ sign. It is 10”, and painted purple with metallic gold lettering.

Next came the PEEPS® part of the project, and I used their pink, yellow, green & blue chicks for this creation.

I pulled out the hot glue gun, along with some yarn and cardstock. I cut little pieces of cardstock that the yarn & the marshmallow treat were glued to.

And on to the door it went. A super easy, yet fun & colorful spring PEEPS® banner!! It was the perfect touch to my ‘Hello Spring’ door!

Now I’m on to more projects with my PEEPS®! You can find more creative inspiration for using PEEPS® on their website, HERE.

**Disclosure: The PEEPS ^® product, information and gift have been provided
by Just Born Quality Confections. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

• PEEPS® Website • PEEPS® Facebook • PEEPS® Instagram • PEEPS® Pinterest • PEEPS® Twitter • #PEEPSONALITY •

Every child is an artist - Picasso

I’ve been working on an art wall for a little while now and wanted to add this [prefect] quote by Picasso.

First, pick out a board or canvas you want the quote on. I used a chunk of particle board I had laying around, but you can easily use a canvas or even some cardstock for this project. Let your little artist paint away. I love the sporadic, crazy painting that he did over the letters. It’s perfect for the art wall & for the quote!

We used Crayola washable paints, but obviously any paint will do (as long as you trust your kiddo with it!)

My first thought was Pink lettering. Didn’t like it.

Instead I went with white vinyl. MUCH better!

OR…! You can just order one of these sweet little wood blocks with the same quote -

Available at Remembories (pick your own color)!

Both make for a great addition to our art wall, I’m using the one my little B painted. I still have a few finishing touches to add to the wall, but it’s almost done!

Hanging Hearts – Valentines door decor

With Valentines Day just around the corner, I decided to make some hanging hearts for my front door. I’m not a huge fan of wreaths, and only can stand to use them once in a while, so I try to come up with something different for my front door instead.

I started with 4 different sizes of hearts – I printed the outline of them from my computer, random sizes, and cut them out by hand. Then I traced them onto some lumber. All of our lumber is hand milled (by my husband Grant), but of course you can just go to the lumber or hardware store and pick up a piece. You don’t need very much for these hearts (depending on their size). I used about 1.5-2’ of lumber.

After tracing them, CUT. I love, love, love my scroll saw!

The cut hearts

And just a picture to show the rough, home milled wood I like to use. Most of the time I’ll plane it before I use it, but I purposefully left it pretty rough, so that when I sanded, after I painted, it would have a worn, rustic look.

On to painting. Since I cut 4 hearts, I went with 4 different colors. I’m a huge fan of Rustoleum 2x coverage spray paint. The colors I used = Berry pink, Apple red, White, & Grape.

Sanding comes next. Like I said before, I left my hearts rough so that when I finally sanded them smooth they had a worn, rustic finished look. And I purposefully sanded the edges more than the rest. Next I applied a final coat of clear coat (matte or gloss, it’s up to you. I used matte because I have a bunch of it around).

You can either stop there & tie a rope/cord around the hearts for a table/shelf display (see picture below), or you can keep going (like I did with my hanging hearts).

The rest of this project is determined by how & where you want them to hang. I drilled a hole in the hearts (either the top center or off to the top side), a little bigger than the rope I found. I like to keep things sporadic & random, so I couldn’t tell you exactly where I drilled on each heart.

The rope I used was found at a local hardware/ranch store, and it’s almost more of a twine than a rope. It’s about 1/4” thick. I cut two 5’ sections of the twine (from a 40’ roll) and tied them in a “bow” in the middle. I’m not an expert “bow-tier” but I did my best ;)

Each heart was then tied to one of the dangling pieces of rope/twine, at different heights. I didn’t use any specific knots, just tied it on and made sure it stayed. Actually, I made sure it REALLY stayed by dabbing some E6000 around all the knots, including the big bow (in the back).

And there you have it. A fun, cute & non-wreath Valentine’s door hanger!

 

 

 

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